I’m Audrey and I teach math in Oregon. I have a passion for making math accessible for all students by focusing on creating a classroom culture that values students at all stages of their mathematical careers. I love to create resources and activities that are meant to build up students’ confidences in their own mathematical abilities so they can see themselves being successful in math as well as see the fun that math can be!
What I’ve Taught
Over the years, I have taught just about every class at the high school level. I’ve taught in a variety of school settings from urban, Title 1 to semi-rural. I’ve taught:
- 7th Grade,
- Algebra 1,
- Algebra 1 Support,
- Geometry,
- Algebra 2,
- Algebra 2 Support,
- Pre-Calculus, and
- Statistics
What I Stand For
I firmly believe all students are capable of rising to your expectations and I absolutely refuse to lower the content standards, even if a group is identified as needing “support.” Support comes in many ways, but it does not include a watered down curriculum. I always aim to teach math in a way that builds, as I call it, a “conceptual snowball” as the year goes on. At first, the ground work needs carefully laid, but once it is, things should be building in an extremely natural manner that allows the pace to move fairly quickly. Imagine building part of a snowman–it takes a moment to get it going, but once you start rolling the snowball, it grows, and it grows, and it GROWS at a rapid pace. Before you know it, you have a belly for your snowman that’s too big.
From one day to the next, students should not feel like anything is really that different–the topics need to be well connected, which allows for easier understanding of the WHY, and allows students to use logic and reasoning to deal with new concepts. In short, it makes sense. As the year goes on, we can easily keep picking up speed because it feels like more of the same to students. It’s a huge confidence builder for students, helps connect and strengthen past concepts to new learning, and deepends students’ ability to apply old info to new.
If you’d like to learn about how I lay the groundwork in Algebra 1, check out this blog post that walks you through my first unit of the year.
Anyway, I hope to serve you as best as I can by sharing how I structure my class and by showing what I include each unit to build this “conceptual snowball,” as I call it.
Enjoy reading,
Audrey
Audrey has a BS from the University of Oregon in Applied Mathematics where she focused primarily on applications to economics and computer science, minoring in both. She also has a MAT from the University of Portland, and received her principal’s license from the University of Portland in June 2020.
Math by the Mountain 